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They felt helpless. It was now the evening of the Sabbath and although Mary and Martha had tried to keep themselves busy by doing other things, they just hadn’t been able to focus on anything other that what had happened. “I can’t believe it,” said Mary, “I just can’t believe it. How fortunate that kind man Joseph had sorted out a grave for Jesus. Wasn’t it kind of him?” “Well who could imagine what would have happened,” said Martha, “if he hadn’t made that offer?” They both burst into tears. They’d got news from Joseph of Arimathea about the tomb with very little time to spare before sundown. It had just been possible to get the burial clothes on the body and line it with spices. At least there was some comfort in knowing he had been buried in a proper place. But it didn’t take away the unbearable pain of it all. “How could it have happened like that?” said Martha. She wanted to get on but neither of them felt like doing anything. They sat down in their own silence and grief. Their minds tumbled around with pictures and sounds of the horror of everything: the struggle up the hill and the heartlessness in preventing any help to carry the cross. They kept hearing the sound of the hammer on the nails, the unending pain and the soldier’s indifference by playing dice as he died – it was unspeakable. How must his mother have felt? There she was wrapped tightly in a woollen shawl, shaking from a profound agony as she watched the death of the most important man in her life. Her husband had died some years earlier. She looked much older than a woman in her forties. “Mary knew it was going to happen you know,” said Martha out of the silence, “but always hoped it wouldn’t. That gift of myrrh when he was born, she knew it was more than an odd present to give a baby. And then when he told her he was going preaching around the country, she knew he was putting his life at risk. How must she have felt when he was arrested earlier this week?” Mary’s thoughts couldn’t shake the memories of Jesus’ final moments. “Do you remember yesterday? I think it was about three o clock when he called out. He said, ‘Father why have you forsaken me?’ I can’t describe how I felt at that moment, it was as if, what did he call him, his Heavenly Father, was angry with him, had turned his back on him, left him completely alone”. “Maybe,” said Mary. “I was longing for it to be over. He was in such agony. Do you remember that moment when Jesus looked up, not sure how he managed it when he was so weak, he seemed to be looking beyond everyone into the distance, into emptiness and said ‘Father I give you my spirit.’ That was it, he’d gone, my lovely Jesus”. She burst out in uncontrollable sobbing. Martha sat by her side just holding her. Through the tears Mary said, “He never hurt anyone”. They sat in silence. “Tomorrow” said Mary, “I’m meeting with Mary Magdala to go and finish the burial stuff properly. It will be nice to be able to do something rather than just sit around. She paused and then said, “How could it end like this? After all he promised us, I just don’t understand it.” “I know” said Martha, “I feel totally desperate. But Jesus would not have wanted us to be sad. He would have said you don’t need to understand it, just trust in my promise.” They settled down to prepare themselves for an early start the following morning and what would be, no doubt another - very sad but - normal day. Nothing is Impossible There is a verse in John that says: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were recorded one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” John 21.25 They believed the Old Testament promises, I’ve already mentioned that the Bible is astonishing so I can’t really say it again, but this verse from John is astonishing. As if there isn’t enough to give us hope in the Gospels about what Jesus did, this verse is saying there is much more. It’s astonishing (that word again) that those who were so close at hand missed it. They believed the Old Testament promises, but what God had demonstrated in person was a step too far. Have you ever missed God talking to you or something happens which you only see as heaven’s involvement after the event? Hope Hope is like faith – it can’t be moved by circumstances. It prays persistently, rejoices constantly, trusts immovably, walks confidently and waits expectantly. Easter changes everything and once they had taken it in they were certainly changed. Look at this: “Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant and boundless mercy has caused us to be born again [that is, to be reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [born anew] into an inheritance which is imperishable [beyond the reach of change] and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who are being protected and shielded by the power of God through your faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time.” A man who on the day after the crucifixion, like Mary and Martha, was in despair. Peter wrotethis passage some 30 years later and something had clearly changed. There is no doubting the fanfare of assurance and promise and yes, HOPE in these words. They shout out not maybe but definitely. Here is rock solid trust in God’s faithfulness to believe what he’s promised.
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